Has the ending of a story ever been rewritten due to a negative fan reaction?

[Joccaren]

Broken Steel for Fallout changed some stuff, if that counts.

As to the second question: Is it ok to demand a rewrite, or is it ok for a rewrite to be done because fans demand it: Yes.
I will extend my answer to encompass a 'Depends on what it is' clause. In the case of Mass Effect 3, 100% Yes.
Why?
What is the Dev teams job. To make a game to please the fans of the series, to earn more sales for EA. They aren't doing this as a backyard operation, they are getting Massive Funding from one of the biggest names in gaming. If they do not perform their job properly, and upset numerous fans - like they did with the ending - it is perfectly fine to demand the end be rewritten to satisfy fans. It was the purpose of the game, as such it should be carried out. Of course, EA likely doesn't care too much, they just worried about the dosh, but it was their funding that made this game possible, and they wanted this game to please the fans so that they would buy it, and its DLC, and recommend it to their friends, and get it good review scores. If Bioware did this funded by themselves as a backyard operation, simply to please themselves or for fun rather than satisfy people and turn a profit - then they are free to do what they will with it, and people complaining can go make an alternate ending themself. As they received a lot of funding and resources, including a talented team to ensure that the job was completed properly and worked well, the terms change. They now have to satisfy the goals of their funding, and whilst the whole 'Don't like it, make one yourself' thing still somewhat holds true, it too has new conditions. Bioware was given a lot of resources to complete EAs goals, so give me those resources and I will make my own. Sadly, I, and most others, are extremely unlikely to get those resources. As such, we have to rely on Bioware to do a good job with what they were given and please us like they are meant to.

Now, don't get me wrong. Mass Effect 3 is a brilliant game, merely the endings suck balls. Am I saying Bioware must change the endings as it is their duty? No. I am merely saying that it is fine to demand they change their endings, same as it is fine to demand that guy at Macca's give you the cheeseburger that you ordered, but he instead gave you a chicken burger 'cause that's what he felt like having.

 

[NLS]

I think some of these endings that people quote aren't specifically what we're looking for here. A lot of movies are shot with alternative ending scenes that they screen for a select few and decide on what will be "the" canon ending. However, I don't think there's that many movies in which the producers go back on set and film an entirely new and different ending, because butthurt people posted on a forum. That's more like what certain ME3 haters are looking for.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Great Expectations, the classic book by Dickens. Rather than Pip growing up alone and almost never seeing Estella again, Dickens rewrote the ending so that Pip and Estella become friends who are destined to see each other more.

Many people have already mentioned Sherlock Holmes, so I don't think the ending needs to be explained.

 

[silver wolf009]

Didn't Fry's dog from Futurama get retconned because of the terrible amounts of sadness it created?

That's the only one I can think of though.

 

[hazabaza1]

That Butch Cassidy film did, didn't it?

 

[Aurgelmir]

I think that comics do this sort of thing all the time. Didn't they write out a few decades of Spiderman canon in a deal with the devil scene and then write it all back in later?

Yes but since a comic never really "end" there isn't an end to rewrite. But Retconing happens ALL THE TIME.

 

[AquaAscension]

I'm not sure if it's necessarily "fan" reaction, but Charles Dickens' Great Expectations was rewritten to have a more positive ending based on the feedback he got from a fellow author. So, there's that.

Spoiler: This

upset so many people they had to retcon it. Closest I can think of.

The only other changes like that would be re-released Star Wars and stuff, in which they changed it solely to provoke negative reactions from fans.

Also, when did they retcon this?

 

[Thaluikhain]

Spoiler: This

upset so many people they had to retcon it. Closest I can think of.

The only other changes like that would be re-released Star Wars and stuff, in which they changed it solely to provoke negative reactions from fans.

Also, when did they retcon this?

TBH, I don't know, I lost interest in Futurama after a while, but I am told they had a later episode that revealed he had a long and happy life.

I can understand why, though...that was a very powerful and moving scene, but that was the whole point.

Cap:death key...why does eveyrone else posting caps always have more relevant ones, it seems?

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

The good decisions you made at the completion of the work are always better than that "moment of clarity" you get later on in your life.

I'm not so sure. There's a reason many novel writers advise new writers to "put the manuscript in a draw for three months" after they've finished it. Distance often helps a writer to see what they actually wrote, rather than what they vaguely intended to write.

Oh I agree on that, my novel has been away for a bit and I'm just digging back through it. Just saying that once it's released into the great unknown, you should never try and call it back.

 

[Something Amyss]

True, that would make sense. Though of course the reason it would work fiscally is because of those fans that wanted him back.

Yeah, but fan demand for more doesn't necessarily indicate fan outrage.

I mean, yeah, Sherlock Holmes was hot stuff at the time. And fans seemed "satisfied" with a story that took place before his death. I think if Doyle had continued to write stories prior to the Recihenbach falls, people might have been satisfied with it.

The example contrasts heavily with Mass Effect 3, where people are demanding an ending change. Not only that, but people are proclaiming it excellent right up to the last ten minutes. They don't want more Mass Effect, which we will almost certainly get. They want this ending retconned.

The other example that was given, incidentally, is also kinda weird. The hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was labeled as a trilogy, even after the fourth book came out. Finally, with "Mostly Harmless," Adams ended the series, bringing it full circle and offering closure in what was both clever and kind of dumb. To this day, I don't even bother with the final book, because it wasn't all that good. And while there was outrage towards the ending of the series, it didn't seem to be what led Adams to start another book before his death.

People could speculate that he finally gave in, but "Word of God" says that he started it as a Dirk Gently (His other series, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) novel, and it seemed to flow more with the HHGTTG. The Dirk Gently stuff was scrapped and we had the beginnings of a new book. And then he passed. There is a sixth book, which was done with the endorsement of Adams' wife, which was probably more commercially oriented simply because Douglas Adams wasn't around anymore, and the original drive gone with him.

I feel like I just wasted a huge amount of time with that. I should be writing myself. But it's sort of an interesting deal.

As for Doyle, we'll never really know his motivations. We do know why he killed Holmes.

 

[Something Amyss]

TBH, I don't know, I lost interest in Futurama after a while, but I am told they had a later episode that revealed he had a long and happy life.

The closest I remember is a brief bit where he's unfossilised and refossilised or something. Though I'm far from the most avid fan. That's awful if they did it, though. It's part of what made the end what it was.

 

[Relish in Chaos]

From what I've read online, Dragon Ball Z was changed due to fan complaints. Originally Goku (the main character from Dragon Ball) was supposed to stay dead when he was killed at the end of the first 'saga' and the rest of the series was going to focus more on Gohan (Goku's son), but there was so much outcry that the writer caved and brought Goku back.

Wrong. Read this [http://www.kanzentai.com/intended_end.php].

Basically, the ENTIRE DB series was extended beyond what Toriyama planned, and considering he's an author who wrote on his seat on his pants throughout, it's impressive that it actually worked out so well.

As MovieBob said, superheroes die all the time in comic books, only to be miraculously revived by some retarded plot device.

Anyway, I don't like it. Fans don't know shit, are a fickle bunch and you'll never be able to please everyone.

 

[Warachia]

Broken steel, the dlc for fallout 3 unkilled your character.

I remember the original ending, that sure pissed me off, just as much as ME3's don't forget that terrible ME book where apparently the entire book is going to be rewritten.

 

[Warachia]

I'm not sure if it's necessarily "fan" reaction, but Charles Dickens' Great Expectations was rewritten to have a more positive ending based on the feedback he got from a fellow author. So, there's that.

Spoiler: This

upset so many people they had to retcon it. Closest I can think of.

The only other changes like that would be re-released Star Wars and stuff, in which they changed it solely to provoke negative reactions from fans.

Also, when did they retcon this?

During one of the futurama movies, fry goes back through time, and lives in the 21st century for a while (I forget how long, 5-15 years, taking the dog of course) until bender shows up later and accidentally fossilizes the dog when he's old. It was a stupid thing to do.

And according to my captcha, bender did it accidentally on purpose

I just remembered another, Scott pilgrim vs the world had its ending changed after the director read the final book of the series. The reaction before and after the change was 50 for it, 50 against it.

 

[StarCecil]

]I haven't played Mass Effect 3 yet, but as for your question, Evangelion immediately comes to mind.

Hideaki Anno made End of Evangelion because fans complained about the T.V. Series ending.

That's the only thing I can think of.

But that is not really a rewriting as a re telling of the ending though.

Never played it but didt fallout 3 get a DLC that sort of changed the ending?

The original ending had you die or someone else die or everyone die. The DLC made it so you could play on (either because you didn't sacrifice yourself or because it turned out you really lived through it). Other than that... I can only think of instances where it was retconned and not rewritten.